Category Archives: Agents

Monday Advice from Editors and Agents: Hooking a YA Agent

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Donna Maloy, Author

Many romance writers, even some with long backlists, are looking at fresh opportunities in the Young Adult market–more creative freedom (less restriction in story lines), the ability to reach a new audience (one that will grow up to become an audience … Continue reading →

Posted in #mswl, Agent/Editor Pitch, Agents, Finding agents, First lines, First page, Gatekeepers, Opening scene, Publishing Industry, Queries, Queries and Pitches, Rejection, Rejections, Writers Digest, Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Monday Advice from Editors and Agents: Know Mako Mori and Bechdel?

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Donna Maloy, Author

Do you know Mako Mori and Bechdel? No, they’re not hot new publishing houses, or editors, or authors. They are standards/tests meant to rate the gender inclusiveness of a book or film–and some agents are starting to mention them in wish … Continue reading →

Posted in #mswl, Agents, Character, Character arcs, Character-driven action, Characters, Craft of Writing, Differentiating Characters, Differentiating Characters, POV - Point of View, Story Elements, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Monday Advice from Agents and Editors: A Bitter Dose of Query Stats

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Donna Maloy, Author

Sarah LaPolla is an agent with the Bradford Literary Agency.  She represents Adult, Middle Grade, and Young Adult manuscripts. Each year she tallies all the unsolicited (slush pile) queries she received and writes a post with the statistics. Many other … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Agents, Finding agents, Queries, Queries and Pitches, QueryTracker, Rejection, Rejections, Sarah LaPolla, Submission, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Monday Advice from Editors and Agents: Make Queries Simple

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Donna Maloy, Author

Sue Miller is an agent with Donaghy Literary. She has previously worked with Scholastic Canada, the D4EO agency, and she hosted the Luso Reading Vox series at Dundas West Fest in Toronto. An admitted social media junkie, Sue has a … Continue reading →

Posted in Agents, Nathan Bransford, Queries, Queries and Pitches, QueryTracker, Rachelle Gardner, Sue Miller, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Monday Advice from Agents and Editors: Face the Consequences

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Donna Maloy, Author

If I haven’t said it before, one of my all-time favorite blogs to follow is Kathy Temean’s Writing and Illustrating. She covers the world of writers with in-depth author, agent and publisher interviews. Her interviews with artists actually feature step-by-step … Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Slater, Avoiding coincidence, Character-driven action, Characters, Conflict, Contrived Plots, High Stakes, Mistakes and Consequences, Plotting, Resolutions, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments